An Afternoon With the Wrongful
by Paradigm of Writing
Summary: After his brother's sudden and tragic death, Robin spends an afternoon with his brother's ex-boyfriend, learning more about his brother and more about himself as the day goes on. While on his little afternoon excursion, he comes to realize just how broken he truly is, and how much he misses his brother.


**Hey everyone, Paradigm of Writing here with a brand new one-shot called An Afternoon With the Wrongful! This is an idea I had a couple of weeks back, but I was to busy to actually get down and write it, but now that I had some free time, I felt that this could be done. I had a hard time picking which two characters I wanted to highlight, for I like doing unconventional pairings... and I landed on Link x Robin (M), and side Link x Lucas- two rather roundabout and weird pairings I don't think many have... seen per say. There is some OOC in this, so don't kill me. Enjoy!**

* * *

Robin stared down at his brother's coffin, trying to stop the lone tears from falling down his face. " _I wish he hadn't let me so soon. There's so much more in this life to experience and now it's diminished to nothing because of his recklessness_."

The plaque on the coffin read,  
 _Lucas Fringe, 1993-2015. He'll be sorely missed._

Robin frowned, willing himself, albeit rather reluctantly to not look at his brother's last photo he had taken before he died. Swirly lemonade hair, rhinestone blue eyes, light brown freckles, an adorning, gleaming smile... all gone in a matter of seconds.

"Robin, can you come here for a moment?"

The pallid haired male looked up from his silent state of grieving, to see his mother Rosalina standing nearby with a rather familiar face standing next to her. He gave a grim smile, hoping that his emotions weren't truly showing their full colors. Robin inched slowly over to Rosalina, all the while giving the strange person a double take, upon realizing who it really was.

Rosalina smiled warmly. "Robin, this is Link. He was Lucas's-"

"I know who he is," Robin cut her off. "I don't need to be formally introduced to him."

Link stared with a form of shock, however it seemed misplaced as he couldn't see where the older brother's anger was coming from. Robin regarded his brother's ex-boyfriend with a cold glare. Link had ditched his normal forest and mahogany hunting outfits for a pristine emerald suit, with an edgy olive black vest slung over his right shoulder. His maple hair covered half of his forehead, leaving two diamond eyes to stare just as harshly back at Robin. Link cleared his throat, and coughed.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Robin scowled. "Obviously. Or else you wouldn't be here."

Rosalina kicked her son in the leg in a silent manner, before turning to Link, her infamous apologetic smile plastered across her face. "He isn't being rude on purpose. Lucas was very close to him."

Link disregarded Robin to grin at Lucas and Robin's mother. "Thank you. I really am sorry this has happened to you," he said. Robin scoffed, and strode past the two in an angry huff, blowing his whipped cream hairdo up a little higher on his head. Link continued talking, trying to ignore Robin's obvious display of rudeness. "Lucas was a decent guy."

Robin slammed the door to the main hall, standing in the deserted dining room. Forty ornate tables sat equidistant from each other, each table decorated with gold glitter and silver streamers. Each plate resembled an exploding star, one of Lucas's favorite pictures taped to the ceiling of his bedroom. Orange silverware lied next to each plate, and the memories flooded over Robin.

The laughing, the root beer floats on the weekends, the constant hours playing football in the front yard. Whenever he had trouble with a math or science question, Lucas was there to help him out and give advice on how to solve the problem. The hundreds of horribly coordinated dates Robin would set Lucas on, not knowing this own brother for twenty years had been bisexual and never really took a whole-hearted love to the women he went out with. The teasing never was Robin's strong suit, but he let it happen because they were brothers, not swore enemies.

Robin shook his head. " _I shouldn't be reminiscing about the past. What is done is done; what has yet to happen, has yet to happen._ "

Deciding he'd fare better in the main lobby, he backed out of the dining room to be met with some words that he truly didn't like too much.

Their uncle, Snake Rowan, was smoking a cigar and talking to a few of the waitresses near his own little private crook. He wasn't the smartest tool in the shed, but he sure knew how to carry his voice out and over the crowd. One thing he definitely voiced his opinion on was how he never understood or approved of Lucas, not even when his own sexuality hadn't been disclosed.

"When Rosalina came out to me about Lucas's sex life, I told her that it could've leaded to some bad things. It's a shame he committed suicide, since I could've helped him turn things around. I mean, once you start living by the sword, you'll die by the sword."

Robin's veins flared, a burning anger coursed through his blood. He strode forward, ready to smack the living hell out of his uncle. Link, however, beat to it first.

"What does that mean? Lucas died in a car accident. What does being bisexual have to do with anything about his death?" Link snarled.

Snake set the cigar out of his mouth, a riveting glare locking Link in a standstill. "Now is not the time kid."

"No, you need to explain what you mean!" Link hissed, raising an arm to smack Snake across the face.

"Link!" Robin cried, trying to stop him from doing anything illegal.

Snake decided to take the bait. "By bad things, I'm talking about drugs, and the prostitution circles, STD's-"

Link scoffed. "As if."

"Do you have any idea how many people he could've harmed with his life, boy?" Snake asked, quiet, but audible rage building in his voice.

"So, are we referring to the drunk driving... or the STD's?" Link questioned.

Snake didn't bat an eye. "Take your pick." Which probably wasn't the best statement he could've said.

Link lunged for the older gentleman, screaming that he'd take his pick with the devil for all he cared. Snake reeled back, ready to punch the kid in the nose. Chaos erupted in the main room as people went everywhere, either holding Link and Snake back from mauling each other, or to hold up the fight. Robin grabbed Link by the back of his vest, pulling with all his might to restrain the enraged male.

Robin dragged the male out through the funeral home and tossed him out to the grass once his foot crossed the main door. Seeing as the guy also brought a skateboard, he tossed it to Link as the latter got up to brush himself off.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Robin asked.

"What do you mean what I'm doing? That's ridiculous! What are you doing, huh," Link challenged. "I'm not the one sitting like a pansy, trying to stay out of things. That man was insulting your brother and you sat by and did nothing!" Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a carton of Marlboro cigarettes. Digging further in, he found a lighter, and lit a cigarette up.

"Good lord..." Robin said, exasperated with the whole ordeal. He turned to leave.

"Robin..." Link called out, his voice not really having any sense of urgency. Robin paused, as Link held out the cigarette box. "Do you want one?"

Robin nearly threw up. "No thanks. I'm good."

Link cracked a smile, seeing a way in to schmooze the older brother. "You're looking too good."

Robin froze at the doorway, and stared at his reflection in the glass. He didn't see a proud man staring back at him, nor did he see someone he wanted to be. He stamped his foot, angry with himself for not even jumping in to defend his brother. He definitely wanted to, seeing as he felt the fire in his body. Although Link got there to Snake first, it didn't mean he should've backed down. Now he felt like more of a coward. " _I'm probably going to hate myself for this_."

He turned around and walked back to Link, who was staring at him rather expectantly. He reached for the same cigarette Link was holding, the male then sliding away on his skateboard, leaving Robin with nothing but air. Link grinned coyly. "Oh man, you've got to be faster than that."

Robin tried again, to have Link back up further. "Dude, I am not in the mood for a game."

"I'm just making it easy for you," Link said, defending himself. "I know you want to, but you have to say you want it. After all, like Snake said, drugs are bad for you..."

Robin rolled his eyes. "You're real mature, you know that, right?"

"I try."

"Give me the damn thing."

Link obliged, and Robin took the flaming paper. Lifting it to his lips, he sucked in a heavy drag and blew out. The bile rose in his throat, but he swallowed it back down with more smoke. He wasn't going to throw his lunch up in front of Link if it'd embarrass him, he wasn't a man who liked backing out of his word. As he blew another tuff, Link went rolling past him on his skateboard.

"Come on!" he shouted eagerly.

"And where are you going?"

"Do you honestly want to go back in there after all of that? You're damn insane if you think that." Link teased.

Robin tossed the cigarette into the dirt, and stamped it out. " _You've got to be kidding me_. _Do I really want to spend my day with my brother's ex-boyfriend?_ " Even though his mind was telling him no, his body was telling him yes. He groaned to himself, and ran after Link.

* * *

The sunset gave gorgeous bands of color across the sky, painting the largest canvas ever. Stunning sunbursts, gleaming halcyons, sharp cardinals, vibrant strawberry pinks, golden yellow, frozen amaranthine, edgy and razor ceruleans... the sky was one of the prettiest Robin had ever seen.

"So, what is it you do now," Link asked. "Luke had told me you were some sort of entrepreneur?"

"Luke? You called him Luke?" Robin echoed. Only he and his mother had called him that, at least to his extensive knowledge. Apparently not.

"Yeah. Problem?"

"No, not at all. But, yeah, Lucas was telling somewhat the truth. I'm trying to start a technology company. A location and where app of anyone in the world, but the app wouldn't tell you who it is so there couldn't be stalking issues and things of the like." Robin explained.

Link guzzled down the last few drops of his succulent diet coke, and crumpled the can in his hands. Giving a glance down the road, he saw that there weren't any trashcans nearby, so he tossed the can to the ground. It made an eerily, ghastly echo similar to the sound of when Lucas screamed which caused Robin to nearly shrivel into nothing.

"See, I knew it," Robin exclaimed. "You don't even care."

"I actually was listening, contrary to popular belief." Link smirked.

"No. I'm legitimately serious. You don't even care, about anything."

"You're wrong. I care about having fun," Link said. "I also care about going around."

"You're disgusting." Robin commented, putting his face in his hands.

"I care about puppies, and the moon, and doing drugs while going around. You know, that does equate to the best times ever." Link chortled.

"Like I said, disgusting."

"I also cared about Lucas." Link trailed off.

That took Robin off guard. As he opened his mouth to respond, Link set his feet on his skateboard and went down the sidewalk. Robin jogged to catch up. "I have a question. You said- I mean- Lucas told me that you dumped him. Why?"

"You know why."

"No. I don't know why, that's why I'm asking."

Link sighed. "I'm not going to open up to you like your Dr. Phil. Plain and simple Robin, it was time to move on."

Robin frowned. He didn't really like that answer. His brother was not some wash cloth that once it was used, you threw away. A person had to be kept, in a sense savored. He wouldn't have thought of anyone not liking his brother. Sure, Link hat dated him, but he just said that even he wasn't good enough to last. It was a trait that made him sick.

Link had sat atop a wall, the outlying wall to some person's house. Robin hoisted himself atop it, warily making sure not to smash his shin against Link's skateboard. The two sat in an awkward silence. Robin, although he tried not to, couldn't help but stare at his brother's ex. Something about how the light fell upon his hair, how the luscious autumn leaves matched his eye color, or the gentle tugging of his lips whenever he smiled or laughed. Even if Link thought Lucas wasn't perfect, Robin sure thought Link was perfect.

"Do you want to take a spin on my board?" Link offered, trying to hand Robin his wooden toy on wheels.

Robin pushed the skateboard away. "No thank you. Not my thing."

Link grabbed some pebbles, seeing as there was a gutter about five yards or so from where they were sitting. He tossed the rock down towards the hole, and cursed when it hit the asphalt and spiraled into someone's window. "Whoops. I kinda missed."

Robin gave Link a glance, but he didn't mean anything by it. "Yeah, you sure did."

Link frowned. "What? You don't feel like breaking anything?"

Robin shook his head in dissent. "No. Why would I want to do that? I'm a terrible shot."

Link guffawed. "That is true. And that's something I've noticed about you. How much different you are from Lucas."

"What do you mean?"

"You two were brothers, and you're the exact opposite of him."

Robin smiled with true earnest. "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment..."

The grin faded. "Oh."

"Robin, you may not believe me when I say this, but... Lucas was a good man."

"I don't know," Robin countered. "He seemed to be a lot like you."

"There are much worse things than me to be like."

"Are there?"

"Wow. You hit below the belt, don't you?" Link snorted.

"I'm kidding."

Link nodded, although he truly wasn't sure if Robin meant it. "When's the last time you saw him?"

Robin couldn't give a straight answer. "It was... it was awhile ago. I guess. I can't give you something straightforward and definitive. I don't have a real answer to that."

"Why does that sound like it was so long ago?"

Robin sighed. "He and I had a stupid argument. I- I don't know even why I got mad at him in the first place. I just... I thought he had so much potential."

"Potential for what?" Link asked.

The white haired male frowned. He couldn't reply to that. Perhaps his brother really didn't have any potential. "You never told me how you met."

"It's actually a nasty story. Probably too nasty for your ears," Link smirked. "I-"

"I'm sure I can handle it." Robin overruled his brother's ex in one quick slug in the shoulder.

"When I think you're ready to hear it, I'll give you the details. All of them. Even the immoral ones."

Robin shuddered. "That's going to be one great talk, I can tell."

Link looked down at his shoes. "Can I crash at your place tonight, Robin? My boyfriend is all the way on the other side of the city, and all I've got is this skateboard as my travel for he had to work today, meaning he takes the car."

Panicky thoughts raced through Robin's mind. " _Oh dammit! What am I supposed to say? Wouldn't it look... wrong if my brother's ex is found camping at my place..._ " he panicked inside his mind. He opened his mouth and gave a hearty response. "Sure. I don't think it'd be a problem."

"Great!" Link smiled. He jumped down from the wall, and helped Robin down too. The sunset was turning into a chilly, grey night. Link placed his skateboard on the ground, and invited Robin to give it a whirl. "Come on! Try it!"

"I swear to you, it's not my thing." Robin said.

"It's easy. I'll even guide you."

"I'm not fifteen years old."

"I'm not fifteen years old," Link pointed out. "And I still use this thing. So come on, take it for a damn spin. I'm not going to judge you."

Robin huffed under his breath, knowing he had no way out of it. "Fine. If I die, you are paying my hospital bill."

He stood on the board, almost teetering off within the first few seconds. Link helped steady him, giving the male a slight push. Robin felt the board accelerate down the sidewalk, the rush of wind in his face a nice little add on to the extra inches of height he gained. Link stayed at his side, giving him little pushes when Robin asked. It took all of Link's restraint to not slide his hand down Robin's back. "You're doing great Robin!"

"This is the gayest thing I have ever done in a long time."

"Well, you should do it more often," Link complimented. "You look great doing it."

Robin smiled at Link, and Link smiled at Robin. " _Maybe... maybe he isn't so bad._ " Robin thought to himself.

* * *

Robin cracked open a can of sprite, sitting on his couch where the mirror divided in two, having the person sitting in front of it break into two people. "Look at this Link, there's now two of me."

Link was smoking another cigarette, by the window. "Exactly. That's the weird thing with sugar rushes, you feel like you're seeing two of yourself."

"I'm serious." Robin grinned.

Link backed away from his smoking spot, and turned to face his newly found friend for the day. "What are you going to do when you see you're mother or Snake again?"

"And why is that any concern of yours?"

"Because he said those awful things about Lucas, and then your mom stood there and took it. Same goes for you."

"It was not the time, nor the place to address those issues," Robin explained. "It's just... complicated, with my brother's life, okay? He didn't have too many supporters, but way too many enemies."

"Who's deflecting the situation now?" Link teased.

Robin frowned. "Oh, just shut it, you wise guy."

Link yawned, and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm going to go lay down for the night, if that's alright with you. I have to wake up early in the morning." Robin stood to clean off the table, full of candy bar wrappers, bags of chips, and other cans of soda. The two brushed each other's hands, and Robin froze. Link looked at him, his mouth halfway parted.

"Look, I'm terribly sorry about the mess. I can clean it up by myself-" Robin started apologizing for some reason. He stopped as Link leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"And I'm sorry about this," he whispered. Robin recoiled, not looking at Link in the eyes. Link backed off, his eyes showing deep regret and rejection. "You know, Luke told me that he thought you were same as him, someone he could love and be with. I told him that you were your own person, who even though had ties to family, liked to make your own destiny. I said this without ever really knowing you either. I think you're just ashamed of yourself."

Robin looked at his reflection again, for the second time that day. This time he was looking straight into his television screen. "Why would I be ashamed of myself?"

Link sat up. "He told me about the two of you. How close you were..."

Robin glared. "And what the hell are you implying?"

Link rolled his eyes. "Forget it."

Robin shoved him. "No! Tell me what you're trying to get at here!"

"I'm not saying anything..."

"No. You didn't know my brother at all, Link! You didn't know Lucas like I knew him." Robin shouted.

"That's not true! You don't know what I knew about him!" Link was now yelling too.

The two grappled onto each other, Robin rearing a fist into Link's gut. Link howled, and slammed his foot into Robin's leg. It brought both of them down, having Robin against Link's shoulder. He started sobbing into his brother's ex's shirt. Link felt the pain, he understood what Robin was going through. The memories were painful, the lies even more so. All Link could do was grip on and let his ex-boyfriend's brother cry.

"Dude, it's going to be okay." Link whispered.

"No it won't be," Robin said, his voice full of sorrow as he hiccupped and gasped. "You don't know that."

Link bit his lip. "It will be Robin. I know how to make it okay." Without hesitation, he kissed Robin. Robin's sobs were cut off in a quick shush, as the two men kissed. Link ran a hand down his back, while Robin let his body easy upward so the two of them were sitting upright. Exasperated gasps came from the two as they shared an intimate moment neither saw coming. They shifted on the couch, falling forward so Link was atop Robin. Link found a pulse and latched on with his teeth, a harsh breath stuttering out of Robin.

"Will you stay?" Robin asked meekly, when the two broke apart.

"Of course I will." Link answered.

* * *

The next morning, Robin woke up to an infuriating headache. The sound of a jangling belt disrupted him from his sleep. Looking over, he saw that Link was getting dressed, the time reading 8:30 A.M. He sat up, and saw that he was naked. A creeping blush rose up to his cheeks, the memory of last night causing chills to erupt all over his body.

Link threw on his ragged suit, and grabbed his skateboard. "I'm off. Thanks for everything, Robin." he said, before exiting Robin's apartment.

"I guess I'll see you later." Robin replied, rubbing his eyes.

However, Link had paused as his hand was mere centimeters away from closing the door. "Robin, I hope you realize that Lucas loved you too. Take care. I'll make sure to see you around some time." With that, he was gone, leaving Robin alone in his stupor, and hazy morning recovery.

Robin set his head down against the pillows on his couch, before staring at the ceiling. A smile drew across his face. " _Yeah. I'll see you around some time too_."

* * *

 **There you have it folks! I truly hope you enjoyed this one-shot, and if you did, leave a review and tell me what you thought of it! There's a whole lot of these coming for the next two weeks as I have 30 different ideas in my head. Thanks for reading guys, and thanks for always being there when I need you the most! I love you all! Bye!**

 **~ Paradigm**


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